


Bean Genie

by Bethanlovescoffee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Bakery and Coffee Shop, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29674548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethanlovescoffee/pseuds/Bethanlovescoffee
Summary: Remus Lupin is one of the best employees at Bean Genie. Unfortunately, the one thing he seems to be better at than coffee art is making a fool of himself around a certain customer who keeps coming back.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 79
Kudos: 171





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my wonderful beta reader [Ri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlyy_hair_dont_care/pseuds/curlyy_hair_dont_care)
> 
> Coffee shop au's, something everybody has done but I have not. Here is my attempt, I hope you enjoy!

Remus Lupin loved his job. Sure, working in a coffee shop hadn’t quite been what he had planned to use his English Literature degree for, but it was certainly enjoyable enough. His co-workers were lovely, he got free coffee and danish pastries, and he did actually enjoy the work. His job was somewhat of a highlight of his week, in fact. He lived alone in a pretty small flat in a rowdy area of London. Home wasn’t his favourite place to be, Bean Genie was.

“Remus, here,” Lily slid a take away cup towards him. “Cinnamon latte,” she explained.

“Okay, I’ve got a cinnamon latte for…” he turned the cup around and gave Lily the most unimpressed look he could muster. “James. It’s for James.”

“I don’t believe that’s what’s written on the cup,” James said, grinning. He made his way to the counter and winked at Lily.

Lily and James had decided it would be funny to try and get Remus to shout out inappropriate things disguised as names. He had fallen for it once about a year ago and it was now part of their routine. If you asked Remus, the joke was rather stupid considering he hadn’t fallen for it since. They really were clutching at straws now; Dill Doe was probably one of the worst ones they had given him so far and he handed the cup over to James with a look of pure unenthusiasm.

“How’d you know it was me?” James asked, voice laced with sarcasm.

“I’m not convinced Dill or Doe are actual names but correct me if I’m wrong.”

James stuck out his tongue. “We’ll get you again someday.”

“James, we don’t ask for people’s first names and surnames, I very much doubt it.”

“Oh, we will,” Lily teased, “when you least expect it!”

James gave her a fond smile before turning his attention back to Remus. “Do you have any of those maple and pecan danishes?” he asked, eyeing the counter where all of Peter’s baked goods were kept.

“Yes, they’re three pounds,” Remus replied, shooting him a fake smile.

“How much for me?”

“Three pounds.”

James batted his eyelashes, “Aw, come on Remus.”

“For you, they’re now four pounds.” James laughed and flipped him off. “Flattery may have worked on your girlfriend. I am not so susceptible. Now piss off.”

James mocked offence, “I am your best customer, how dare you!”

“Actually, Marlene is our best customer. And she tips better.”

James rolled his eyes and shoved a five-pound note in the tip jar. “She only tips when Dorcas is working,” he mumbled. “Anyway, gotta get back home and start dinner. Lils you’re off at six, yeah?”

“I’m working, James,” she replied in a sing-song voice, not taking her eyes away from the person placing their order.

“She’s off at six,” Remus confirmed.

“And yourself?”

“Albus is still in hospital, so not until eight. I’m locking up.”

“Ah shame, would have invited you over for dinner. Dorcas and Pete left already?”

“Yeah, they left at five so it’ll be just me for two hours. I can’t wait.”

James added an extra pound to the tip jar. “For your struggles.”

“Still not getting a free danish, buddy. I’ll see you around.”

James laughed at him, blew a kiss to Lily, and then left. It was a Monday evening and it wasn’t super busy. Which was lucky really as Remus didn’t really fancy facing a lot of people alone when Lily left in twenty minutes.

“Remus, can you do the latte art?” Lily indicated her head towards the coffee mug and handed him the small pot of frothy milk. Remus had always been the best at coffee art. He wasn’t sure how, Dorcas had actually done an art degree, but everybody tended to just give it to him and he honestly didn’t mind.

There was no set design he was forced to stick to and he’d actually mastered quite a few and so decided that this customer could have a sunset on theirs. It looked quite impressive and when he delivered it to the woman on table six, she did actually compliment him on it. One of their regulars was named Arabella Fig and whenever she came in, Remus would always draw a cat face on her cappuccino as she was a self-proclaimed cat enthusiast. Nobody was quite sure but she was said to own at least five of them.

There were only a few customers who trickled in over the next half hour so when Lily took off her apron, gave him a goodbye hug, and then left, he didn’t have an awful lot to do.

A couple of people wanted toasted sandwiches, he sold the last of the lemon curd tarts and made a note to tell Peter to make more of them next time, and then he just decided to practice coffee art with every intention of drinking the coffees afterwards.

By five to eight, Bean Genie was empty and so he decided to lock up a few minutes early. He switched off all of the upstairs lights, then he went to the front door and locked it, flipping the sign to the ‘closed’ side. Just as he began to walk away, he noticed someone outside. He couldn’t actually tell if they were trying to get in and so he waited for a moment, watching.

He had a map which he was desperately trying to read but it looked as though it would fall to pieces, the weather outside was typical of a British autumn: absolutely pouring it down. He was completely drenched and didn’t appear to have a coat either.

Remus sighed; he wasn’t in a rush to get home anyway. He pushed open the door and was hit with a rush of cold air and the sound of the hammering rain was amplified. “Are you alright?”

The guy whipped his head around, “Oh, you know, just on a late-night stroll, looked like the weather for it!”

Remus chuckled lightly and pushed the door slightly further open. “We’re technically closing but would you like to come in? You look about ten minutes off of drowning.”

“Is it a problem?”

Remus shrugged, “Boss isn’t here so nobody will know if that’s what you mean.”

He was obviously torn about being an inconvenience but at a sudden clap of thunder, he nodded and Remus held the door open to let him past.

“Thanks, you’re my hero.” He smiled at Remus which threw him off guard for a moment. It had been dark outside and wasn’t easy to tell. In this light, however, it was absolutely crystal clear that this guy was, well, hot. His hair, like the rest of him, was absolutely sodden. It clung to his tanned skin in slight curls and fell just to his shoulders. His eyes were a light grey, his smile was genuine, his features were aristocratic, all incredibly defined and angled. Suddenly Remus sort of wished he’d left him in the rain because he felt at an absolute loss for words.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, can I get you anything? A hot drink? Change of clothes?”

The man raised an eyebrow, “You have changes of clothes handy?”

“There’s a spare uniform in the back if you don’t mind wearing a shirt that says Bean Genie.”

He laughed. “I love it. Is it an intentional pun on Jean Genie?”

“On what?”

“Jean Genie! By David Bowie!”

He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world but Remus genuinely had no idea. “I mean… possibly. The guy who owns this place is quite old so—”

“Bowie is timeless I’ll have you know.”

Remus smiled and kept staring when the man smiled back. “Right,” he snapped himself out of his daydream “change of clothes, come with me, you can get changed in the storage room.”

Remus then walked quickly around behind the counter and into the stock room. He dug out a shirt and some trousers and tossed them at him. “We don’t do spare shoes, I’m afraid.”

“What kind of coffee shop doesn’t sell shoes?” he joked.

“Would you like a drink? I make quite a good coffee.”

He laughed. “Yeah, okay, an americano would be quite nice.”

“There’s no light in here,” Remus explained, “bulb blew like six months ago and we never got it fixed. Have fun!” He closed the door to the storage room and got to work making the coffee, desperately trying not to think about the guy getting changed.

He emerged a few moments later and some colour appeared to have returned to his cheeks. “You don’t have a towel, do you? I could do with drying my hair but it’s no stress if you—"

Remus threw a towel at him, “Here you go.” His voice had cracked slightly and he internally cursed himself. “With your coffee, do you want warm milk, cold milk, dairy free milk?”

“Uh… cold semi-skimmed is fine.”

Remus put it into a little silver pot and placed both it and the coffee down on the nearest table.

“How much do I owe you?” He asked, ruffling his hair a final time with the towel before sitting down and taking a sip of his coffee. “This is really good.”

“Thanks. And you don’t owe me. On the house.”

“Wow, just when I thought you couldn’t get any nicer.”

Remus felt himself smile and looked away. “Care to tell me why you were stood in the pouring rain without a coat trying to read a map?”

He laughed. “Oh, right, that. My phone died and I needed directions.”

“To?”

“Some stupid solicitor’s office. I don’t need to be there until tomorrow but I was out anyway and figured I’d try and work out where it was. Then my phone died so I couldn’t phone a taxi. Didn’t know the way back to my flat either, hence the map.”

“Here,” Remus unlocked his phone and slid it across the table. “Book a taxi. That one you are paying for though, they aren’t cheap.”

He smiled and spent a moment typing before giving the phone back. “All done. You’re very trusting, I could have stolen that for all you know.”

“Eh, I figured if you were going to steal something, you’d have gone for the cash register. Although, you did mention a solicitors office… dare I ask why?”

“It’s a long story. Don’t worry, I haven’t broken the law or anything. Someone’s trying to take a lot of money away from me.”

Remus’ eyes widened, “Those don’t sound like the words of an innocent man.”

“Relax, it’s just my parents.”

“Why would your own parents want to sue you?”

“Because they don’t like me very much? And they technically aren’t suing me. I had an uncle who died and he left everything to me in the will. They are not impressed. They’re getting my uncles solicitor involved, trying to prove it was a mistake or that he was unwell when he executed his will, something like that anyway.”

“Oh… I see. Glad I let you in here now, you sound like you’re having a pretty shit day.”

“You could say that again. I’m Sirius, by the way.”

“Oh, Remus.”

Sirius grinned, “Ah so it seems both of our parents went down the unusual name route.”

“No idea where they got Remus from. Sirius is a star though, right?”

“Ten points! Most people think it’s after the adjective serious. My whole family has a thing for astronomy apparently, everyone is named after a star or constellation or something. The problem is, they run out of ones that can actually be used as names. I’m the third Sirius in my family.”

“Wow. I reckon there are worse names than Sirius though.”

“You can say that again, my cousin named her daughter Nymphadora.”

“Oh… I suppose you could always shorten it to Dora?”

“Or Nymph,” Sirius grinned. “I decided if I ever have kids, I’d continue the tradition but only to mock it. Big Dipper is currently top of my list.”

“Well then… I hope for your unborn child’s sake you never have kids.”

Sirius raised his mug, “I’d drink to that.” He took a sip and hummed. “This coffee really is very good.”

“I do killer coffee art if you’re interested,” Remus joked.

“I’ll remember that for next time.” Oh, so he was coming back. “Anyway, I stopped you locking up, I assume, and so I’ll be on my way. The taxi will be here in a minute anyway.” He downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. “Thank you so much for the clothes and the coffee, really, I was about to freeze to death.”

“It’s no problem, your wet clothes are where exactly?”

“Oh, radiator. I’ll go grab them now.” He bounded off into the back and emerged with a bag. “Thank you again, really. I’ll wear this uniform around to support the business.”

“Please don’t, if my boss finds out I gave it to you he won’t be impressed.”

“Ah, well, I’ll bring it back tomorrow. See you, Remus.” He pushed open the door and sent Remus a final smile before disappearing into the rain. Remus felt himself blush like an idiot and groaned into his palms. Fuck.


	2. Part II

The next day was uncharacteristically busy. It was a Tuesday and therefore Dorcas’ day off and so Lily and Remus were struggling to keep up with making drinks. Thankfully, Peter came to the rescue after putting a batch of cupcakes in the oven and said that he would help them until they had finished baking. Halloween was fast approaching and it may have been the array of themed cakes and drinks that seemed to be bringing an influx of people. That and the fact it was half term. He shouldn’t be one to complain, he worked in a coffee shop in a busy area of London, of course there was going to be business, especially during the holidays. He just occasionally found himself wishing there was more staff.

Remus took his break far later than usual, after the lunch-time rush. Part of him was silently disappointed that Sirius hadn’t come back. He had definitely said ‘see you tomorrow’, Remus remembered it very clearly. It was a stupid thing to be thinking about at all. He’d barely spoken to Sirius. He’d made him one drink, given him a change of clothes and learnt a total of one fact about him: his parents were trying to claim money from him. Well, two facts if you counted being attractive. Three at a push if you counted ‘has a phone’.

The rational part of Remus’ brain was telling him it was just a stupid crush and there was no point being hopeful that he’d ever see Sirius again. Attractive people came into Bean Genie and never returned, it happened. The hopeful part was making him look towards the door every time the bell jingled to announce the arrival of a new customer.

Remus actually contemplated not going on a break at all on the off chance that he missed him. This, Remus decided, was stupid, and the cold pasta he had put in the small breakroom fridge had become very tempting by three o’clock when he was absolutely starving.

“Going on my break, think you’ll be okay?”

Lily looked over to him, “Yeah, it’s starting to quieten down. I’ve got Peter anyway if I get desperate.”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Peter replied. “Have you ever tried to individually ice thirty cupcakes to resemble Frankenstein? It’s so hard!”

“Frankenstein’s monster,” Remus corrected, “Frankenstein is the—”

“Guy who created him,” Peter finished, “my apologies, Mr English literature.”

Remus laughed, “Hm, bet my parents are glad I’m putting that degree to good use, hey?”

Peter grinned at him before turning back around to carefully ice the cupcakes. Remus swiped one as he walked past. “Hey! You could have at least taken one I hadn’t finished yet!”

“But then I wouldn’t get to try the delicious icing.”

“Stop trying to distract me with compliments. I won’t forget this, Lupin. Now, go on your break. You’ve been here since seven.”

Remus gave him a thumbs up and took a bite of the cake. It really was very delicious. He hoped they wouldn’t sell out so they would get to eat the spare ones. He shuffled past Peter’s work surface and ascended the stairs with every intention of eating his lunch very quickly and then returning to work. Not because Sirius had promised to show up. Definitely not.

“Jesus, Lupin,” Lily greeted as he made his way back behind the counter, “you were only gone ten minutes!”

“Eh, more fun down here anyway.”

Lily hummed slightly, “Someone was asking for you, by the way.”

Remus’ heart leapt, “Who?”

“No idea, heard you did great coffee art or something, apparently?”

“Oh, uh, where is he?”

Lily raised an eyebrow, “I never said he. You were expecting him?”

“No. No, I just said he by default…”

Lily hummed as though unconvinced, “Table just around the corner. Good looking guy with the long hair. Are you sure you don’t know him?”

“Uh… no?”

“He asked for you by name is all.”

Remus sighed, “Okay. Maybe I sort of know him. As in I met him once yesterday when I was closing up and gave him coffee because he was very obviously freezing cold.”

“Aw!”

“No, no aw, Lily, I know what you’re thinking.”

“Looks like your type…”

“Okay, first of all, I don’t have a type.” Lily rolled her eyes but let him continue. “Secondly, must you try and get me with every guy I ever encounter in my life?”

“That’s what friends are for!”

“Oooo are we talking about Remus’ love life?” Peter asked, coming out of the small kitchen, a smudge of flour on his left cheek.

“Nope, I’m out of here.” Remus threw Lily a final look and, as directed, walked over to the table in the corner. Sure enough, it was Sirius. Sirius with a bun. Remus tried to look completely unphased by this as he walked into view.

“Ah, there he is!”

Remus smiled, “You were asking for me?”

“You said your boss would be upset about the uniform, no idea who your boss is so thought I could give it to you in secret. Here, I washed it and everything.” He handed Remus a Waitrose carrier bag. “I have also heard from good intel that you do good coffee art. I would like to judge this for myself.”

“Yeah, well, when I told you that I wasn’t banking on you remembering it.”

Sirius grinned, “Ah, foolish error.”

“Okay, fine, well, you can go up to the counter to order and I’ll put this away.” Remus promptly turned his back and walked into the storage room, taking a quick moment to get a grip, before putting the uniform away and walking back out into the café. He’d always been slightly awkward around attractive guys, but blushing whenever one looked at him was definitely something that was unique to Sirius. It was very irritating.

When he walked back behind the counter, Sirius was chatting with Lily.

“Sirius was just telling me about last night,” Lily explained, wearing a smile that to anyone else would have been completely normal but Remus knew it to be her ‘you have a crush’ smile. It was always used annoyingly accurately. “Anyway, what can I get for you?” she asked.

Sirius studied the menu, “I have no idea what’s good… Remus, recommendations?”

Remus suddenly seemed to forget everything they sold. “Uh… if you are hoping for some coffee art, a flat white or a latte or something is easiest?”

“Perfect, I’ll take a flat white,” he said, handing the money over to Lily who had not stopped sending Remus excited glances.

Remus made the coffee and went to pour the milk before hesitating, “Any requests?” he asked.

“Do whatever your heart desires.”

To Remus’ mild annoyance, Sirius then rested his elbows on the counter and watched him. It was very distracting. More annoyingly, it made Remus’ hands shake a little bit. He decided to try and just do something that was easy enough but would still look mildly impressive and so settled on a flower.

This was far more difficult than he had anticipated, however. Shaking hands and frothy milk were not a good combination.

“Fuck.” He’d accidentally overpoured and a large white circle had appeared in the middle. Sirius was grinning at him so widely that when he desperately tried to salvage it, he poured in too much again. Remus huffed and tipped the rest of the milk into the mug without even trying so that the whole surface was white. “There you go, it’s a moon.”

Sirius burst out laughing. “Oh wow, the resemblance is uncanny!”

“Hm. Full moon, obviously.” Sirius’ laugh and the sheer embarrassment had made Remus go an impressive shade of pink and so avoiding eye contact at all costs was now essential.

“Oh of course.”

“Yeah, you know, because your name is a star so I thought it was fitting.”

“Aw, well, thank you Moony.”

Remus looked up from his feet which he had decided were very interesting. “That is not a nickname I condone. Fuck, okay, can you go sit back down? I’ll do it again and bring it over, can’t do it with people watching.”

“Of course. Drink that coffee yourself though, can’t have it going to waste.” He flashed another smile at Remus before walking back to the table he had been at previously.

“Holy shit,” Lily said slowly, “I don’t think I have ever seen you blush so much in your life.”

Remus groaned as he started making the coffee again. “Please shut up.”

“Oh my God, Remus, you have to ask him out!”

“Are you joking? Oh, hello stranger, here’s your coffee. Also, what are you doing this weekend?”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but that is exactly what I am suggesting you do.”

“No! He’s just, ugh, he’s attractive, okay? That’s it. I’m not planning on dating him or whatever I just happen to think he’s good looking.”

“Oooo who’s good looking?”

James, ever the king of timing, had appeared, leaning over the counter to give Lily a quick kiss.

“Nobody,” Remus said, adamantly.

“The guy at the table over there who Remus is unable to act cool around.”

James turned and very obviously looked at him before nodding. “I would.”

Lily laughed, “Oi, you have me, thank you very much.”

Remus zoned out of their antics and began carefully repouring the milk. He decided to draw a swan because he’d always felt the design was quite pretty. Luckily, the absence of Sirius watching him intently made it far easier.

He took the cup over to Sirius and set it down. “Here you go.”

“Damn, looks good. Moony,” he added.

“You’re not allowed to call me that because we no longer remember the failed attempt. I got it right the first time, okay.”

“Ah, my apologies.” Sirius observed his mug again. “Is it a pigeon?”

Remus managed to hold back the laugh and blinked at Sirius as though unimpressed. “Yes, Sirius, it’s a pigeon.”

“I’m only joking. It is a very pretty swan, thank you Moony.”

Remus rolled his eyes but he knew it had come across more affectionate than annoyed. He quickly realised there was no reason for him to be standing there and walked back over to where James and Lily were ginning impishly at him. Thankfully, a group of teenagers came in and they got to work making drinks before either of them could say anything.

Sirius stayed for about half an hour, sat in the corner on his phone, before walking over to the counter with his tray.

“We do clear those up, you know,” Remus said, taking it from him.

Sirius shrugged, “I was coming over anyway to get something to go, I have another meeting with the solicitor this evening and need something to power me through.”

Remus turned his back and walked into the kitchen to the left to put the mug in the dishwasher, when he came back out, Sirius had delved into a story with James about how the solicitor was defending him in a murder trial because he’d killed thirteen people in cold blood.

“How’d you do it?” James asked eagerly.

“Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies.”

James wanted a cinnamon latte and Sirius seemed to decide that sounded good and ordered the same. Lily made the drinks and slid them along the counter to Remus. He handed them both the take away cups and Sirius snorted with laughter.

“Hugh Jass,” he stated, grinning.

Remus looked at him alarmed, “Sorry? Oh—Lily!”

“You didn’t even read the names out that time, spoil sport.”

“Think that one is technically mine,” James said, then, upon reading his cup, added “Jesus, Sirius is almost as bad.”

Sirius laughed again, “Here you go, Hugh.”

“Ah, thank you good sir!” James swapped cups with Sirius and clinked them together before taking a sip. “Splendid coffee as always darling.”

“Why thank you,” Lily replied, curtsying.

“Remus, Lily and I are ordering Chinese, you in?”

“Can’t, Hugh, I’m locking up.”

“Again?”

“It’s my own fault, I keep volunteering.”

“Ah, this weekend?”

“Yeah, can do.”

That seemed to satisfy James and so he leant over the counter slightly, “Goodbye kiss?” When Lily turned around, he pulled away. “Woah, I meant Remus.”

“Just for that, you’re not getting one.”

James pouted but seemed to decide it was fair enough. “Remus, you down?”

“Absolutely not. Goodbye, Hugh Jass.”

James gave him a thumbs up and walked out the door, waving as he went.

Sirius watched him go as well. “What’s his actual name? I never asked.”

“Hugh Jass,” Lily and Remus replied simultaneously.

Remus laughed and then decided to take pity. “James. Lily’s boyfriend.”

“Fiancé,” she corrected. “Christ, Remus, you’re only my maid of honour.”

Sirius smiled at him before looking away, “I should get going. I’ll probably be back soon though; you guys do great coffee.”

Lily gave him a thumbs up and Remus waved as he turned and left. He got half way to the door before suddenly stopping and turning around. He walked quickly over to the tip jar, placed in a ten-pound note, and then left for good.

“Ten-pound tip?” Lily observed. “Remus, please marry him.”

“Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're holding out for a plot line to kick in... i'd brace yourself to be disappointed? Okay so there is some plot coming but a lot of it is just dumb coffee shop antics. Anyway, thank you for 50 kudos after only one chapter, that's pretty cool!


	3. Part III

Remus didn’t see Sirius again for four days. He repeatedly told himself that it didn’t matter because Sirius was just a customer and it was weird to even care in the first place. In actuality, Remus spent his whole day off wondering if maybe Sirius had finally come back on the day that he wasn’t in. He received an unprompted text from Lily which answered that question.

_(20:07) Lily: Lover boy didn’t come back today either :(_

Remus didn’t feel the need to reply because Lily knew him well enough to deduct that he had rolled his eyes.

Dorcas was opening up the following day and so Remus got to lie in to the grand hour of eight before eventually rolling out of bed and getting into his uniform. He found himself checking his hair in the mirror maybe once more than he used to do before meeting Sirius and then walked to work. He quite liked the walk; it wasn’t too far, he couldn’t drive, and he could probably use the exercise.

Peter must have arrived early because Remus spotted him in the kitchen as he shuffled behind the counter. “Morning.”

Dorcas smiled at him, “Good morning. So, what is this Lily tells me about a certain customer who—”

“Oh for— she told you about Sirius?”

Dorcas gasped dramatically. “He has a name!”

“You’re one to lecture me about having a crush on customers. How is Marlene, by the way?”

“Oh, so you do have a crush on him?”

Remus sighed. “I rather set myself up for that one.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Lily teases you enough for the both of us so I’ll give it a rest.”

“Dorcas, have I ever told you I love you?”

Dorcas laughed. “Sorry, Rem, you’re not my type.”

The bell jingled and a girl with blonde hair and a bright smile entered. “Speaking of your type,” Remus muttered. Dorcas elbowed him rather harder than necessary in the ribs.

“Hey Marlene!”

Remus decided he didn’t need to be part of this conversation and, as it was quiet, decided to clean some of the tables. Just for something to do, really.

Mrs. Figg came by at eleven, because she always came by at eleven, and Remus took pleasure in making her usual oat milk latte with cat coffee art, she would complement him every single time.

It was hours later, well after the usual business of lunch time, that Remus almost dropped a tray of drinks when he saw the door pushed open by none other than Sirius. Remus hurriedly gave the customers at table twelve their things and then raced back over to the counter, slowing to a casual walk when he was in eyeshot of Sirius.

“Hey,” he greeted calmly, “what can I get for you?”

“Sorry I didn’t come back sooner.”

Remus shrugged, “Don’t apologise. You’re not, like, contractually obliged to be here.”

Sirius laughed at that. “Yeah, I know. I was ill, by the way. That’s why I haven’t been in.”

“Oh. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine, that extra coffee the other day was probably a mistake though.”

Remus looked at him, eyebrows drawn together. “What?”

“I’m dairy intolerant, made me a bit sick.”

“We—we have dairy free milk! You know that, right?”

“Yeah of course I know that. Tastes like shit though.”

“Sirius you can’t just… poison yourself.”

Sirius grinned, “You’re so dramatic. It’s just a tiny little intolerance, I will live. I’ll have a latte.”

“A dairy free latte, sure.”

“Oh, come on, Remus, I don’t believe you’re allowed to dictate my order for me.”

“Look we have oat milk, coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, hazelnut milk. You can’t hate all of those.”

“The only dairy free milk I’ve ever mildly enjoyed is cashew milk, and nowhere does cashew milk, so I’m fine with normal semi-skimmed please.”

“Hold on two secs. Peter, take orders for me?”

Peter poked his head out of the kitchen and walked over to man the counter as Remus ran upstairs to the break room to find Dorcas.

“Dorcas, do we stock cashew milk?”

“What the fuck is cashew milk?” she replied, mouth full of sandwich.

He sighed. “Never mind.” He walked back down the stairs, contemplating his options. Technically Sirius was right, he should just give him what he ordered. Actually, he sort of had to.

“Remus, I mean it, it’s a mild intolerance,” Sirius said as soon as Remus returned.

“We do have cashew milk it’s just out of stock but our stock order comes in tomorrow.” The lie came very easily. Technically, it was only a half-lie. They were indeed getting a stock order delivered tomorrow. Cashew milk would not be on it but Sirius didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, really? It’s just not on your menu.” He nodded to the large chalkboard behind Remus.

Remus pretended to check and then faked a look of confusion. “Weird, it should be.” He grabbed some chalk and scrawled the word ‘cashew’ under their list of dairy free milk alternatives.

“Now, will you please give me a latte?”

Remus sighed. “Fine, but you better only order one.”

“Okay, mother.”

“Speaking of parents, how is the court case going?” Remus asked, handing Sirius the card machine so he could pay.

“Not well. Turns out my uncle’s solicitor is married to my cousin which nobody had decided to tell me. He’s pure evil. Although with a name like Lucius, I guess you sort of have to be…”

“Does everyone in your family have such unique names?”

Sirius thought for a while. “The only remotely normal name we’ve had is one of my other cousins’ husbands, his name is Ted. They’ve been disowned. Not because his name was Ted, mind. Although… the name Ted would look rather shit on my family tree.”

Remus smiled, “I’m hesitant to ask but you don’t have like… an actual documented family tree, do you?”

“Oh, Remus, you are in for a treat.” He looked behind him and then frowned, “I’m forming a queue. I’ll tell you another time.”

Remus tried not to look too disappointed as he poured the milk into Sirius’ coffee. Just a simple rosette design today. He gave it to Sirius and watched him walk over to a table before greeting the next customer jovially and continuing to do his actual job, because talking to Sirius was not it.

Dorcas came back from her break and encouraged Remus to go on his before it got later in the evening, as evenings were known to be a little busier. Sirius, it turned out, was still there. He’d moved upstairs where it was quieter and had a laptop open.

“I thought you’d left.”

Sirius looked up, momentarily startled. “Without saying goodbye to my favourite barista? Come on Moony, give me some credit.”

“You’re really still keeping up the nickname, huh?”

“Yes. It’s grown on me.”

Remus hummed. “Well, I guess I can only hope it grows on me too.”

Sirius smiled at that. “Would you like to sit or are you technically working?”

“I’m technically on a break right now. Can I grab my lunch?”

“It’s four o’clock, Remus. You can’t call it lunch.”

“Relax. Peter, our baker, has been feeding me danishes all day, I’m not going to starve.”

He stood for a moment before turning and ascending the stairs, quickly grabbing his bag before returning to Sirius’ table. It was slightly weird to be spending his break with him, he couldn’t help but think, although it had been Sirius who had invited him. Just because Remus worked here and Sirius was a customer didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends though. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, he reasoned.

“So, your family tree?”

Sirius shut his laptop and sat back in his chair, looking at Remus. “Yes. Okay, so in my family’s house there’s this whole wall in the drawing room—”

Remus snorted, “Drawing room? I didn’t think that was something anybody actually had.”

“Yeah, well, guess my family liked having a one up on the rest of the world. Anyway, there’s this whole wall which is literally just our family tree.”

Remus took a bite of his sandwich and regretted it as he now had to mumble his words over the food. “Wow. Family was important to you, then?”

Sirius shrugged. “Not in the ways that matter.” Remus didn’t know what he meant by that. “It gets better though; we have our portraits painted for it. Everyone has this little painting on the wall above their name. We had to wear the most ridiculous outfits.”

Remus almost laughed at the idea of anybody still getting a portrait painted. Maybe Sirius’ family were late to the discovery of digital cameras. “I’m sure you look very charming. Did you have to wear a silly hat?”

“You bet your arse I had to wear a silly hat. And I most certainly did not look charming in it.”

“Do I detect past tense there?”

“Yeah, I’m not on it anymore. They burnt me off.”

Remus had been taking a sip from his water bottle and almost spat it straight back out. “They… they what?”

“Burnt me off. They have a habit of doing that. The cousin who married Ted, she’s been burnt off because Ted was a working-class Yorkshire man and my family just couldn’t have that. My uncle got burnt off after he’d died which felt a bit ridiculous. Left everything to me though which my parents hated. I got burnt off at sixteen when they found out I was gay. That did not go down well…”

Remus had forgotten his lunch entirely now. His parents had always been so loving and supporting, even when he brought home his first boyfriend. “Shit. I’m so sorry. They sound awful.”

“They are. I honestly don’t care I was burnt off of that wall, surprised I didn’t do it myself it really was a horrible picture. It worked out though. I moved out, got my life together, and I did it all by myself. Anyway, that’s me. Your turn.”

Remus hesitated, struggling to think of anything interesting about himself. He lived alone, he worked Monday to Saturday, his favourite film was Dead Poet’s Society, his favourite book was Pride and Prejudice, that one he wasn’t going to own up to. He ate the same meals most days because he couldn’t cook well. He worked in a coffee shop but preferred tea. He was an only child, his mother had died last year, he didn’t have many friends. None of this seemed worth telling Sirius but he didn’t have anything else to tell. They spent almost half an hour talking before Remus realised his break was over and he should get back to work. Sirius left not long after, saying goodbye as promised.

“Why were you asking about cashew milk earlier?” Dorcas asked casually as Remus watched him go.

“Oh, uh, a customer asked is all.” It wasn’t a lie.

Dorcas nodded. “How does one milk a cashew, exactly?”

They spent the rest of the evening joking around and eating some of Peter’s lemon curd tarts which were about to go past their best. It was Peter’s turn to lock up but neither Dorcas nor Remus were in a rush to go anywhere and so they kept him company until eight o’clock. Dorcas had been messaging Lily and when she found out about this arrangement, she invited all of them over as to not miss out. Remus was reminded again of how lucky he was to get to work with his best friends.

The next day on his way to work, Remus spent one pound and seventy pence in Tesco on a carton of cashew milk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was originally meant to be the first half of a more interesting one which i then split in two so i promise there are more fun coffee shenanigans to come as i fell this chapter is just a bit... meh.  
> anyway, hope you are all enjoying nonetheless! 87 kudos with only two chapters ain't half bad and i really appreciate it :)


	4. Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this last time, but the rest of the chapters really are going to be more fun, there's just some things I need to lay out so all of that can happen but I'm there now; more evidence of a slight plot coming your way soon. I hope you enjoy this (slightly shorter) chapter nonetheless

Remus was responsible for opening up the next day which worked out well as it meant he could put the cashew milk in the fridge without Lily bombarding him with questions. He kind of hoped Sirius would come back now because nobody had ever asked for cashew milk before and he hadn’t even been super aware it existed. The stock order had indeed arrived and he packed it all away into the appropriate places. Aside from all of the baking supplies, Peter had requested he do that himself because everybody always put it in the wrong place, apparently. It was probably a good thing the delivery had come as Peter’s display of baked goods was looking rather empty.

At seven-thirty, Remus turned the sign around to indicate that Bean Genie was now up and running. It had not missed his attention that neither Peter nor Lily had arrived yet. Business was slow for the first ten minutes which is when Lily finally decided to appear.

“I’m so sorry,” she panted. “Felt awful this morning but I got up and ate and I’m feeling better now. Lost track of time.”

Remus shrugged. “It’s okay, as far as anyone else is aware, you arrived here at seven-thirty.”

Lily flashed him a smile and put her apron on. “So, Dorcas mentioned last night that you spent your break with lover boy.”

“Okay, first of all, that isn’t his name. Secondly, we just talked.”

“What about?”

“He just told me a bit about his family and stuff. Nothing exciting.”

Lily groaned, “You’re such hard work! Go on then, what did he say about his family? I would like to get to know him.”

Remus looked to the door in the hope somebody would come through and serve as a distraction from the conversation. Unfortunately, no such thing happened. “Well, he had nothing good to say about them. He got disowned as a teenager and doesn’t speak to them now.”

“Oh. Do you know why he got disowned?”

“You’re so nosy!”

“Yes,” Lily replied, simply.

“Ugh, fine, they found out he was gay and didn’t like it all that much.”

Lily actually squealed. “Why didn’t you tell me that!”

“I didn’t think his past trauma was important?”

She punched his arm. “Not the trauma bit, obviously that’s terrible. The being gay bit!”

Remus hummed slightly. He hadn’t actually thought about it. Now that Lily mentioned it, it probably was the sort of thing he should at least get a tiny bit excited about, plenty of the guys he found attractive were in fact straight. “I can’t say I really gave it a second thought.”

“You—this is why you’re single.”

“Excuse me?” Remus replied, laughing exasperatedly.

“Not because you aren’t a catch, because you’re just so… oblivious to advances.”

“Since when was somebody telling you about being disowned an advance?”

“He was letting you know he was gay and he absolutely didn’t have to. He wanted you to know.”

Remus shook his head. “It wasn’t like that; you weren’t even there!”

Lily raised her eyebrows and went to respond but the bell chimed and a large smile spread across her face as Sirius entered. “Hello!”

“Hey,” Sirius replied, “how are you both?”

“We’re great,” Lily answered. “What can I get for you?”

“Just a latte.”

“Cashew milk?” Remus asked.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Oh, uh, yeah if you’ve got it.”

Lily was tactical enough to not say anything to this, instead she narrowed her eyes as she watched Remus retrieve the carton from the fridge and get to work making Sirius’ drink.

“Is it cool if I do some work?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Remus replied. “Go upstairs if you like, it’s quieter.”

“What is it that you do?” Lily asked.

“Oh, well, I have some inheritance money that hopefully won’t be taken away from me so I actually quit my job. Boring corporate stuff, hated it. I’m writing a book now.”

Lily’s eyes widened slightly and Remus decided to keep himself busy with making the drink.

“What kind of book? Remus studied English Literature at university, did he tell you that?”

Sirius laughed and Remus fought the urge to mutter something sarcastic.

“Ah, well, nothing that will be a literary work of art. It’s actually a cook book.”

“You cook?”

“Well, bake. I’m hoping to use the money from my uncle to start a bakery. That plan is on hold until I can know for definite it won’t be taken from me.”

Lily hummed, “Remus mentioned that. All the solicitors and stuff.”

“Did he now?”

Remus kept his back firmly turned and pretended he couldn’t hear the conversation at all.

“He did not mention the desire to open a bakery though!”

“I didn’t know,” Remus said defensively, drawing a star onto Sirius’ coffee. “Guess I never asked what you did. Here you go,” he gave the mug to Sirius who smiled.

“Right, well, I’ll be upstairs.”

The moment he was out of earshot, Lily rounded on him. “Okay, cashew boy, start talking.”

“What? He mentioned yesterday he liked cashew milk so I asked if he wanted some today.”

“Cool. So where did the cashew milk come from exactly?”

“Uh, came with the monthly order.”

“Oh my god, you are buying him cashew milk!”

“No, Bean Genie is buying him cashew milk.”

Lily grabbed the carton from his hand. “Yeah, babe, we don’t get our produce from Tesco.”

“Fine. Sirius is dairy free but won’t drink any of our dairy free milk. Happy?”

Lilly grinned. “Very. You’re so cute, have I ever told you that?”

Remus looked at her, stony-faced. “Piss off.”

The phone rang a few minutes later. This mildly surprised Remus because the phone never rang and he’d almost forgotten they had one. He shrugged at Lily before taking it off of the wall. “This is Bean Genie; how can I help?”

“Remus?”

“Peter?”

“Yes, you haven’t been answering your phone all morning!”

“That’s because it’s company policy we put them in a lock box. Where the hell are you, by the way?”

“In hospital.”

Lily looked over to Remus, eyebrows raised in question. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Broke my arm this morning. Had to go to A and E. I tried to call you and Lily to tell you.”

“Shit. How did you manage that?”

Peter was silent for a moment. “Uh, I fought off a burglar who was trying to steal an old lady’s handbag?”

“Okay, how did you actually do it?”

“Fine. I slipped on a leaf…”

Remus bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. “Say that again?”

“I was walking to work, there are leaves fucking everywhere because it’s autumn, it was raining, they were slippery, I fell over and landed straight on my elbow.”

“Did you get revenge on the leaf?”

“Laugh all you want, Remus, I can’t come into work so good luck doing my job for me. Shit, gotta go.”

“Wait, Peter—” He had hung up. “Right, so that was Pete,” he explained to Lily. “He’s broken his arm and is not coming in. Albus used to fill in for him when baking. How competent are you?”

Lily shrugged. “His recipes are all in the cupboard. I’ve covered for him once before; I reckon I’ll be fine?”

“Cool. Well, I’ll call Dorcas. She will not be impressed but we can’t just have two of us in.”

Remus was right, Dorcas was not impressed. She reluctantly obliged, as there was not much of an option, and Remus agreed to buy her pizza for her troubles.

James stopped by at around noon just as Sirius had come downstairs to order himself a second coffee. When he had asked for cashew milk, Dorcas dropped a pile of tea towels and sent Remus a very excited look as she bent down to pick them up. Apparently, she had remembered Remus asking her about it the previous day.

“Where’s Lily?” James asked suddenly, “is she on a break?”

“No, she’s in there,” Dorcas nodded her head towards the small kitchen to the left. “Peter broke his arm on the war to work and is currently in A and E. Lily’s covering for him. I believe she’s trying to bake some scones?”

Remus was interrupted from toasting a sandwich when Sirius leant across the counter to speak to him. “Could’ve asked me. There’s a uniform in there that fits me and everything.”

Remus laughed. “Yeah, not happening.”

“Aw, come on, I’m trying to make a living out of baking you could at least give me a chance.”

James seemed to overhear that as he suddenly turned around. “Wait, you bake?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Well?”

“Fairly well, why?”

“It’s my mums’ birthday in two weeks and I said I’d sort out the cake. Sent her request over to Peter but the guys only got one arm now. Just if you’re up for making a few quid I could give you my number?”

“Oh, wow, yeah, if you’re sure? I might be shit for all you know.”

James shrugged. “Risk I guess I’ll just have to take. Remus, you can text me Sirius’ number?”

Remus gave him an unimpressed look. “I don’t have his number.”

James pretended to check the time, an obvious lie as he had looked at his wrist where no watch was present, “Gosh, I really ought to be going. Remus, text me Sirius’ number, yeah?”

Remus flipped him off as he walked away. “Sorry about him,” he said, turning to Sirius. “He’s a, well, he’s a Hugh Jass that’s for sure…”

Sirius laughed. “You don’t have to give me your number. You can just give me Hugh’s if you like and I’ll message him.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I’m changing his contact to Hugh Jass as well, he deserves it.”

“Dare I ask why he was so keen for us to exchange numbers?”

Remus grimaced, “You don’t want to know. Here,” he passed his phone to Sirius so he could read James’ number from the screen. “Really, I’m sorry about my friends.”

“Don’t be! I mean I’m being paid to make a birthday cake now so no complaints here.”

The bell chimed and a group of kids from one of the local schools entered.

“I should probably get going,” Sirius said as they approached the counter. “I’ll be back tomorrow in case you change your mind about needing a baker,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“I’m sure I won’t,” Remus replied, imitating Sirius’ tone.

As soon as Remus was on his break, he found his phone to send a rather angry message to James Potter who probably thought he was being subtle or tactical but was actually being a pain in the arse. He had already given Lily a lecture in person about how their attempts to involve Sirius in Remus’ life as much as possible was not, in fact, appreciated. Upon unlocking his phone, his desire to send James a grumpy text was only made greater.

_UNKNOWN NUMBER (13:42) Hey, it’s Sirius, I messaged James about the cake and he said he’d give me an extra five pounds to message you and I’m not an idiot so obviously accepted_

Remus sighed and typed out his reply.

_(14:17) Tell James I hate him. Please just ignore him, he thinks meddling in my life is funny._

He began typing out a message to James when his phone pinged.

_Sirius (14:19) I’ll admit their enthusiasm for us to be friends is a little strange but idk, they seem cool. As do you :)_

Remus sighed. Lily and James Potter were nuisances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First up: 100 kudos on an incomplete fic of which i have posted three chapters is pretty awesome thank you so much!
> 
> Secondly: a few people have been asking me about my upload schedule for this. I am aiming to post a new chapter at least once a week, I like to be on top of it and I don't like to keep people waiting so if it's any longer than a week, presume my life is crazy busy
> 
> Oh, also, A and E is accident and emergency. UK equivalent of the ER room for America. Hospital you don't book appointments for you turn up if you've had, well, an accident or an emergency.


	5. Part V

Remus awoke the next morning to his phone ringing. He was not impressed to see that it was seven and he was being denied an extra hour of sleep, as it was Dorcas’ turn to open up.

He hit answer without even reading the caller ID, “Hello?” he asked, sleepily.

“Remus, I’m so sorry to have to call you this early.” It was Dorcas. “James phoned me; Lily’s been throwing up all morning.”

Remus rubbed his eyes and sat up, “Is she okay?”

“James said she’s perking up a bit but obviously she’s not coming in.”

“Yeah, yeah of course. I’ll be right over, okay?”

“I’m worried about trying to do the work with just the two of us. Should I call Albus and ask if it’s a good idea to stay open?”

Remus stood up, clicking his back, before rummaging around for his work clothes. “Yeah, that’s an idea. You know Albus though, the show must go on and all that.”

He heard Dorcas make a noise of agreement. “Okay, I’ll phone him and if I don’t call you back, presume he wants us to try and cope.”

Remus agreed before hanging up, getting changed quickly and deciding he’d just steal some toast from work. He walked to Bean Genie and regretted not wearing a coat that was more waterproof as it began raining almost as soon as he stepped out of the door on the ground floor of his building complex.

He walked quickly, a combination of trying to get there promptly and avoiding spending time in the freezing cold. Dorcas was behind the counter when he arrived and there was already a small queue of people. He quickly pulled off his coat, put on his apron, and got to work helping her. Once the five or so people had been given their morning caffeine, she turned and smiled at him apologetically.

“Sorry for waking you up.”

He shrugged, “Payback for making you come in on your day off I suppose. How’s Albus?”

Dorcas frowned. “He’s not so good. Someone else answered his phone, a friend, she said the treatment isn’t going as well as they hoped. She mentioned complications or something like that, I’m not really too sure.

“Shit. Do they know if he’ll be okay?”

“I didn’t really ask. She seemed to be in quite a rush to stop talking to me.” She shook her head and forced a smile. “Anyway, I believe this is yours for today.” She handed him the full-length apron that Peter wore.

Remus laughed dryly, “Very funny.”

“It’s bold of you to assume I’m joking.”

“Dorcas, I can’t bake.”

“Have you ever baked a cake?”

Remus thought about it. “Once for a bake sale when I was in year seven.”

“Good, then you’re more qualified than me!”

Remus then realised she was being deadly serios. “It’s more important that we get the drinks done, though. There’s plenty of stuff,” he said, indicating to the display of cakes and scones and other baked goods.

“There will be nothing left for tomorrow if you don’t do anything now.”

Remus nervously looked over to the kitchen. “And calling in Peter is completely out of the question?”

Dorcas whipped him with a towel. “He’s broken his arm, Remus.”

“One armed Peter is still probably better than me…”

“Oh, just try it and if it’s a total car crash, we’ll figure it out. You’re right, we’ll get Pete back soon but not today. Now, have fun!”

Remus groaned and put on the apron before walking into the kitchen. He opened the tin in which all of Peter’s recipes could be found, digging out the one for scones because they were always running out and it didn’t seem too ambitious.

The next half hour proved Remus’ prior conceptions to be inaccurate. It turned out that when you were an incompetent baker, literally everything was ambitious, even plain scones. He had accidentally forgotten to add the sugar to the first batch and quickly took them out in an attempt to add it later which obviously hadn’t worked. The second batch he’d burnt, despite the oven timer, and put one on a plate so he could prove his point to Dorcas.

“Here you go, Dorky, I saved you one.” He froze when he saw Sirius at the counter.

“Wow, Rem,” Dorcas greeted, “that looks… well done.”

Remus smiled before tossing it in the bin and brushing the flour from his hands onto his apron. “Yes, well, I have officially quit. If I keep burning produce at this rate, we won’t have enough for the month.”

“Oh no,” Sirius said, “if only there were somebody here who knew a thing or two about baking.”

Remus looked at him, “We can’t just hire random people.”

“We can if we’re desperate and don’t tell Albus,” Dorcas muttered, handing a cup to a customer with a smile.

“I don’t want payment,” Sirius said quickly. “Voluntary work.”

Remus groaned. “Okay, fine, but put on the shirt in the stock room so people think you work here.”

Sirius looked genuinely surprised that Remus had agreed and walked behind the counter and into the stock room, its location clearly memorised from the night they’d met. Remus looked away very quickly when Sirius did not shut the door before pulling his shirt off and putting a Bean Genie one on. It was probably a size too small which really didn’t help the whole situation.

He nudged into Remus who was keeping his eyes firmly fixed ahead. “Can I steal your apron?” Remus blinked before pulling off the apron and handing it to Sirius. He pulled it on before spinning around. “Do me up?”

Of course. Remus quickly pulled the string into a bow and then stepped away quickly to signal that it was done. Sirius turned and flashed him a smile.

“Right,” Remus said, clearing his throat, “I’ll just, uh, show you where some of the things are.” He did not miss the way Dorcas raised her eyebrows as Sirius followed him into the kitchen.

“Right, well, this here is all the mess I’ve made and will clear up now to be out of your way,” he indicated to the work bench which was covered with flour and an array of bowls and spoons. “Fridge is here,” he gestured to it. “Peter keeps everything else in very specific cupboards and I literally couldn’t tell you what those are so just rummage around for whatever you need and it’ll be there somewhere. And, uh, recipes are all in here. Maybe do some scones or tea cakes, stuff like that is quite popular.”

Sirius nodded, “Sounds perfect. Thanks.”

“Well, thanks to you too. You may have gathered by the colour of that scone but I am not the best baker…”

Sirius laughed. “Nobody’s perfect.” With that, he washed his hands before getting to work. Remus hurriedly moved all of the things he had gotten dirty and wiped down the surface. He gave Sirius, who was pulling his hair back into a bun, a final look before exiting the room and joining Dorcas.

“What are you doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Helping you with drinks?”

Dorcas indicated to the non-existent queue of people. “I’m doing fine. I’ll give you a shout if I need you but you may as well take this time to learn how to bake properly, in case it’s the same thing tomorrow.”

“Dorcas, don’t be like this.”

“Sorry, Rem, James and Lily are on a mission to get you to invite Sirius as your date to their wedding. If it’s any consolation, they want me to ask Marlene.”

“Yes, but you and Marlene have been flirting non-stop for like a year! She’s bound to say yes to you! I only met Sirius the other week.”

“You think she’ll say yes?” Dorcas asked, grinning.

“I wouldn’t get too excited; they haven’t even set a date. James is still petitioning for them to have a Halloween wedding.”

“Yeah? And how’s that going for him?”

“Not well. The rough plan is for next summer, despite James’ protests that a fancy-dress wedding would be cool.”

“Hm, well, enough small talk. Go get cashew milk latte boy to teach you how to make scones!”

Sirius seemed far more thrilled at the prospect of teaching Remus how to bake than Remus did. He talked Remus through Peter’s recipe and explained that you needed to knead in the butter until the mixture looked like breadcrumbs, not stir it, and other such things that Remus had apparently been expected to know.

“You kneaded the dough though, right?” Sirius asked, tipping the contents of the bowl onto the workbench. Remus had gotten one thing right, apparently, as Sirius had also covered the surface in flour. Although Sirius had done it deliberately.

“Okay, where on that recipe does it say to knead it?”

Sirius laughed, “Well, it doesn’t, but I presume that’s because Peter wrote this up and thought it went without saying.”

“It obviously doesn’t,” Remus grumbled. “What’s the point of making a recipe if it’s not understandable to everyone who reads it?”

“It’s understandable to everyone who has made a scone before. Not my fault you didn’t help out in the kitchen at home.”

Remus laughed harshly, “Not my fault you say scone like a twat.”

Sirius grinned before sweeping a bit of the flour from the work bench onto Remus. Remus retaliated, because it was only fair, and then remembered it would be him that would have to clean their mess up and promptly put an end to that game.

He went back out to assist Dorcas with making coffee whilst the scones baked. They had certainly looked better than Remus’ when they had gone into the oven which gave him high hopes that they would actually be allowed to sell these ones. When Remus returned to the kitchen ten minutes later, as instructed, he found that Sirius had cleaned everything.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Remus said, the confidence he’d had when he’d been attacking Sirius with flour had decided to leave, apparently, and he found himself blushing again.

Sirius shrugged. “A good baker never leaves a kitchen messy.”

“You obviously haven’t met Peter.” Sirius laughed before taking the trays out of the oven and setting them down. “There’s a fridge under the bakery display, we need to put foil over those and keep them in there so they stay fresh.”

Sirius smiled and took one of them off of the tray. “We’ve got to test if they’re okay before giving them to the poor unknowing general public, right?”

“That only seems fair,” Remus nodded.

Remus sat on the now clean work bench next to Sirius who held out the scone for him. Remus faltered for a moment, considering explaining that he was perfectly competent to feed himself, before shrugging that thought off entirely and taking a bite.

“Good?” Sirius asked.

Remus went to speak but his mouth was full and he quickly covered it with his hand. He gave Sirius a thumbs up which made him laugh.

“Really good,” he answered when his mouth was free of scone. “They taste exactly like they do when Peter makes them.”

“Well, we used the same recipe,” Sirius replied, nudging his shoulder into Remus.

“You know what I meant.”

Sirius smiled and took a bite himself. “Mm, shit, these taste better than the ones I use my own recipe for. That’s marginally annoying.”

“Ah, well, can’t offer to lend you the recipe, see. Need people to come here instead of your bakery.”

“If I ever open a bakery,” Sirius mumbled.

“You will,” Remus replied, simply. They spent a quiet moment smiling before it was interrupted.

“Remus, Arabella’s here, can you come and draw some cats.”

Remus laughed and scooted off of the work bench, “Arabella is one of the regulars, she loves cats,” he explained, “she’s early, though, normally comes by at eleven. Anyway, I’ll just be… yeah.”

“Is there anything else you need me to do or am I fired?”

“Well, technically you aren’t fired because we never hired you, but I do think we’ll have enough to keep us going until we can coax Peter into coming back.”

“And if Peter ever needs a second arm, you are now a master of baking.”

“Ha-ha,” Remus deadpanned. “I’ll see you around.”

“Wait, Remus,” Sirius stopped him. “What time are you off today?”

“Probably not until eight unless I can somehow find an excuse to close early. Why?”

“Uh… no, forget it, it doesn’t matter.”

Remus didn’t really know how to respond and so he went out to complete Mrs. Figg’s latte. Sirius was gone when he came back from talking to her, his shirt was left folded up on the work bench with one of the post-it notes they used for orders on it.

_Thanks for giving me a chance!_

_\- S x_

When Remus had mentioned their final interaction in the kitchen to Dorcas later, she had actually punched him in the arm.

“He was asking what time you were off so he could ask you out!”

“Well, he obviously wasn’t or he would have done it.”

“He probably got nervous.”

Remus laughed, “Yeah, very funny. I don’t know why he’d be nervous. He looks like… that and I look like, well,” he gave a small spin for effect and Dorcas threw a towel at him.

“Enough with the low self-esteem. You, Remus Lupin, are a catch. He probably got nervous about messing up this cute little flirting thing he’s got going with you,” she held up a hand to stop Remus when he opened his mouth up to protest, “and he chickened out.”

“You’re reading into it.”

“You wouldn’t have told me about it if you didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Obviously, you just want validation that that was, in fact, why he was asking.”

Remus really didn’t have a response to that, he didn’t know what to say. He did know, however, that if Sirius was actually interested in asking him out, then he was fucked.

“He probably just wanted to meet up as friends or something.”

Dorcas threw another towel at him for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is, at the time of publishing this chapter, the tenth of march, and therefore a very important someone's birthday...
> 
> happy birthday moony! thanks for being my comfort character, sorry i write fanfciton about you and your boyfriend. i mean... "bestfriend"... *nervous laughter*

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr and instagram @ bethansfandoms :)


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